Pain of the Past
by xanthabel
Summary: 'He had realised sometime in the past years being apart from him, that vampires could care for something more than blood.' Why does Hal sense that there is something so familiar, to him about Honolulu Heights? Implied Hal/Mitchell, nothing explicit, mentions of blood.


Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters belong to the BBC.

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Looking back at the time he had first arrived at Honolulu Heights, he had known that there was something familiar about the place. He had noticed it as soon as he stepped through the door. Was it a smell, or just a mysterious 'feeling'? Annie had mentioned something about another vampire previously living in Honolulu Heights, when she arguing with Pearl. He supposed that it was just being near one of his own species. This was the closest he had been to a vampire in over half a century, even if said vampire now occupied a Hover bag.

However after his confrontation with Fergus by the bins he knew that it wasn't just that another vampire had lived in this house before him. No, this was something he had known before, even if it was a long time ago, well working by human standards. But to Hal it was still recent, even if he had been trying to supress it from the moment he helped Leo escape. He knew he couldn't let himself remember; the last time that had happened he had almost drained the population of Southend dry. It was the only time; apart from the first time that he had gone clean that he had to be physically restrained. So he did what he always did, these days and tried to forget, like he tried to forget the feeling of sinking his teeth into the neck of a young girl, like he tried to forget the feeling of blood running down his throat, the feeling of sucking the life from a human.

Leo had helped him deal with the memories of blood, of the hunger, how to counteract them, show that he was stronger than those urges. But Hal didn't know what to do about the things he was feeling, the memories clawing their way to the surface of his mind, since he had moved to Barry. He had never told Leo about these, he wanted to keep them separate from the blood, even though he knew that they were very closely linked, and giving up one had enviably meant giving up the other, though he did know which one had been harder.

He tried to distract himself from it. At work he could quite easily distract himself, even if it was with trying not to leap at every customer which walked through the door. At the house, things were harder. There was that feeling, something which Hal had longed for from the day which he ran away with Leo.

When Annie called a house meeting to discuss Eve and the enviable arrive of the Old Ones, Hal was unfocussed and annoyed, trying to keep something stronger than his need for blood, from rearing its head. 'Look I don't know what it was like with George and Tina' he finally said, having only paid attention to half the conversation.

'Their names were George, Nina and Mitchell.' Replied Annie in an icy tone, but Hal didn't hear the rest of Annie's emotional lecture to him. Mitchell. The name whirled around his mind, uprooting everything he had tried so hard to supress. He excused himself as quickly as he could and headed to his room, ignoring Tom's, unsurprising, look of confusion and Annie's hurt. Locking the door behind him and sinking to the floor, he let every memory, every feeling, and every emotion, bombard his body and mind.

Mitchell. John Mitchell, the only person in all of his existence which he had ever truly loved. Of course at the time he hadn't realised how deep his feeling for the man went and suspected that neither did Mitchel. Neither of them had believed that beings such as themselves dissevered to find love or were even capable of it. He had never noticed, between the blood and sex, how much he cared for the man, how much he would do for him. He had realised sometime in the past years being apart from him, that vampires could care for something more than blood.

'Jesus Annie!' Hal exclaimed, as Annie the ghost appeared in the room, ruining Hal's moment of solitude. 'Can't you just knock, or something?'

'I tried but after five minutes of complete silence I started to worry slightly.'

Hal looked at her, trying to read her, but it was always difficult with ghosts. So instead he asked, 'How did you know Mitchell?'

Annie looking slightly taken aback answered, 'Well, George and him found me in my house in Bristol, when they moved in. I got sent to purgatory, he recused me. We moved to Barry and then I realised I was in love with him.'

Hal stammering slightly, 'You, you loved him? And did…' He trailed off, looking worried. 'And did he love you?'

'Yes' Annie stated with a confused look on her face.

'And then he was staked?' Hal again asked with something almost like to fear in his voice.

'By George, it broke my heart, but it was what he wanted. He was a afraid of what he had become, what he was, the things he did…'

Hal knew the feeling. 'Was he drinking?'

'No, or at least trying not to, there were a few times, but' she broke off looking at Hal.

He was speaking, as though to himself, 'He finally did it, fifty years later and he did it. I wonder who for though.' He finished hanging his head.

'What? You knew Mitchell?' The ghost quickly asked, with something which Hal though sounded like hope in her voice. 'What was he like?'

'Are you sure you want to know?' Looking her in the eye, he said, 'He wouldn't have been the man you loved.'

Annie quickly became more sombre, 'I… I want to know. He never told us about his past, I think he preferred to stay in the present.' Hal could again relate to the feeling.

'You really might not want to know, what you think of him, it will change, how you see him, remember him, and it almost certainly won't be in a good way.'

'No.' She answered, almost in a whisper, 'Tell me.'

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A/N This is my first fan fiction, so let me know if there is anything which you feel could be improved, especially with Hal's characterisation. I've got an idea for the story of Hal and Mitchell's past but would like to know if there is any interest. Thanks for reading.


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